Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, host of Minutia Men, and the writer of "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Just One Bad Century," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," and "Records Truly Is My Middle Name"

Monday, November 30, 2009

The only regular posting will continue to be my weekly Father Knows Nothing column, which I'll re-post here as I always do.

Of course, you know me, I may just pop up on this blog a few times to share something funny, cool, or interesting. I just won't be posting the usual volume, and there will be days when I post nothing at all.

I'm in deep research mode. One novel is about 2/3 done, one book is essentially done and is being pitched as I write this, and the third book I'm working on still needs quite a bit of research. That's what I'm concentrating on this month.

I'm also researching for two new Just One Bad Century features that will debut the week of the Cubs Convention.

So, if you need me I'll be holed up in my basement bunker. I'm still checking e-mail, of course, and I'm still on Facebook, so it's not like I'm completely unreachable. Just unshaven. And probably wearing sweatpants.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Christmas shopping season is officially upon us, so once again we'd like to offer a few products for the Cubs fan on your Christmas list. We just went through our inventory, so please pay attention to the sizes and choices still available.

Allow about seven to ten days for delivery. If it's a rush order, e-mail me at rick@justonebadcentury.com, and I'll see what I can do.

This classic teardrop Cub shirt has been a big hit. It says so much without saying a word.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talk to Jake Hartford from WCPT. He has some great stories from his long television (working with Walter Jacobson) and radio (WLS, WCPT) career.You can read it here.

Someone sent me this, and since it's the same person that sends me the most ridiculously untrue inflammatory anti-Obama stuff, and because none of the below facts are sourced at all, I would take them with more than a grain of salt. Plus, it was one of those mass e-mails, which are almost never true.

Some of the following "facts" sound a little hard to believe (OK, very hard to believe), but I do know that at least two of them (Peas porridge and tomatoes) are true. Hey, bottom line, it's about the 1500s, and if it's untrue, no biggie.

12 facts about the 1500s:

#1: They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldnt even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low.

#2: Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June... However, since they were starting to smell .. .. . brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor .. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

#3: Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

#4: Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs ."

#5: There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

#6: The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.

#7: In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire... Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot.. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

#8: Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat".

#9: Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 300 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

#10: Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

#11: Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

#12: England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus,someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer...

It didn't become known as Veteran's Day until 1954. Before that, it was Armistice Day, a day honoring the end of World War I.

Novemember 11, 1918 was one of the most joyous days in American history, tempered by the fact that we were in the midst of a flu pandemic that would wipe out more people than the war did. This film shows how San Francisco celebrated...

Chicago had a parade too. There were rules about what to do at a parade...because a large gathering of people was sure to spread the flu virus further.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

This day meant a lot to me. I had been to the wall many times during my years in Germany. I had gone through Checkpoint Charlie several times. I had been on the other side of the wall...and it was the most terrifying place I had ever been.

I didn't believe this day would ever come.

On the day it actually happened I was working for Steve & Garry's show. They made me call my relatives in Europe. My sister lived in Switzerland at the time, but S&G didn't like her because she didn't have a German accent. They wanted someone that could speak English, but someone with a thick authentic German accent.

So, I called my grandmother. She came on the air with them, and after the first Nazi joke, told them off and hung up on them.

I miss Oma. She died the next year. But at least she lived to see the wall come down. Her entire family lived on the other side of it.

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talk with long time Chicago program director Bill Gamble. He talks about the two radio stations he is programming now (US99 and Fresh FM) along with some of his previous stops on the Chicago radio dial.Read it here.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Did some research on it after we got the most outrageous bill I've ever gotten in my life, and found out that the transmission is an issue with Honda Odysseys from 2002 and 2003 (we have a 2003), but that Honda has refused to issue a recall. Someone is trying to put together a class action lawsuit.

Laura Ricketts, one of the new owners of the Chicago Cubs, is an "out" lesbian. This quote was in the Windy City Times this weekend...

"I came out to my family I would say early to mid 30's. I think for a long time I wasn't really out to myself growing up in Omaha, Neb., to a Catholic conservative family. It took me a while to come out to myself and not long after that I came out to them. I think that it really couldn't of been a better experience. They were all immediately supportive. ... I have been really really fortunate in that regard."They're Catholic and conservative, yet they're also tolerant.

I only met Chris Farley a handful of times, and don't claim to have been his friend, but David Spade was supposedly one of Farley's best friends. Every time I see this commercial I think: "Dude, how could you do this to a dead friend?"

Monday, October 26, 2009

Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville Daily News Newspaper in Starkville, MS. and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day. The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows. I have some bad news. The mule died last night."

Curtis & Leroy replied, "Well, then just give us our money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule."

The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?"